"We're
live in Lo'Ihna, already in our third week of the peace tour," Jepp
directed towards anyone who was watching on their screens. "The
public have decided this round should be chill, relaxing. What
better theme for
the tranquil city
of Satorissia?"

James
scoffed, reluctantly turning his head and slowly to look out the
window next to him. While there were buildings and pedestrian
walkways only a few metres away, their vehicle was floating along
water. He groaned and faced forward twice the speed, shaking his
head. "Tranquil, right."

Craig
couldn't help himself, he sniggered a little obnoxiously. "I
know right, what if we break down?" James raised his eyebrow as
he looked at him. "What if we sink?" Craig faked a gasp.

"What
if you're unconscious for the evening?" James said in a flat
tone, Craig wasn't sure if he was serious.

Jessie
peered out the parallel window. The streets seemed a lot further
away on that side. Still they were close enough to make out faces of
the people there, that was until their transport floated by an ice
blue tree, its branches filled with sparkling blue leaves.

Lena
noticed as well and rushed for the window, eyes wide in wonder. She
stuck her head out the window after they passed by. She was more than
astonished to see not just one, but they'd passed many more like
that, all of them growing from under the water. Mist was beginning to
settle over the stream they had travelled through, making the trees
glow as well. "Wow."

"Looks
like we found Atlantis," Craig chuckled very nervously, even
though James had stopped staring at him.

"Is
that it?" Lena wondered aloud. Her attention had changed to
straight ahead of them, so Craig tried to peer in that direction too
without hanging outside the window like Lena. He didn't have to.
Their boat floated into an ancient stone building, its higher floors
propped up by massive pillars.

Inside,
the boat slowed to a stop beside a platform already full of
paparazzi and screaming citizens. As they stepped onto the pier and
lead into a fenced off path, they were immediately swarmed by the
crowd shouting questions at them. "What's your gimmick this
week gonna be?" "Who are your songs about?" "Is
it true you mime sometimes?" "Are the rumours true about
you and Kiara, Lena?" "Are you two dating?"

Craig
turned his head to answer, Lena assumed one of the last few and gave
him a discreet nudge in the gut. He whimpered and continued forward.
Jessie took the opportunity to squeeze in front of them and walk
faster to their destination, with her head down. The last question
she heard before she disappeared through the door were, "are
you really pregnant, Jess..."

Lena
had to quickly grab the door to stop it closing in her face. She and
Craig then followed, with James right behind them giving the man who
asked a stare that was colder with every step. Once gone the guy shuddered.

The
arena's staging area took up the entire northern wall of the
circular hall. The stage itself looked like a stone staircase, walled
by fountains on either side which kept glowing everytime the workers
tested the ceiling lights.

While
it was still empty, the quietest of conversations could still be
heard, echoing all around, barely drowned out by the sound of running water.

In
less than an hour the entire stadium was packed to the brim, each
seat taken. The regular ceiling lights had dimmed, leaving only the
support pillars generating each a different coloured water effect on
during intermissions.

A
few acts had been on already so the crowd were buzzing, and for the
most part completely wasted. Of course a lot of them were the Voyager
visitors getting into the Christmas spirit a little early.

Backstage
Kiara, Naomi and Bryan waited for their turn, each dressed in
co-ordinated white and silver outfits. To Kiara's annoyance her
bandmates were being fussed over again by their mothers. Once again,
she looked around for her own. In that brief moment she'd forgotten,
and sighed sadly to herself. When turning back to her group she
spotted Lena standing a little ways down the corridor, looking half
dressed with a fluttery watery blue ankle length skirt, which clashed
with her casual red t-shirt.

Lena
noticed she'd been spotted, she hurriedly turned around and grabbed
a passer by's arm to stop him and talk. His band carried on without him.

Kiara
recoiled a little from that until she saw a brief head turn toward
her again. "How long have we got?" she asked, interrupting
Bryan's face cleaning.

He
couldn't answer with his mother's vice grip around his chin,
squeezing his lips together. Naomi promptly pointed at the same group
that passed Lena just as they were going through some tall curtains.
"After them."

"Won't
be long," Kiara mumbled as she hurried over to Lena before she
was spotted.

Halfway
there she noticed the man Lena had stopped getting worked up.
"No no, I don't want to go to your concert, you stuck up
brat." Lena's face twitched exactly like her mum's would.
"Aliens think they can waltz in with their so called new sound
and win the biggest competition of the year. It doesn't work like that."

Kiara
arrived in time to quickly get in the way of the guy getting a very
likely punch. "Lena, what are you..."

"So
what you're saying is," Lena inadvertently interrupted her,
"I need to do something drastic that'll get more votes. Okay,
hold still." She gently coaxed Kiara a little to one side with a
tiny push of her left hand. Her right fist had clenched.

"Lena!"
Kiara shouted and reached for that wrist. She laughed nervously and
turned to face the man. "I'm sorry but um, she gets a little
stressed before a show. She doesn't mean anything by it."

"Hey,"
Lena protested.

The
man smirked, "all right. Tell your friend that just because
Jailbreakers are giving you Humans a pity slot, the rest of us won't
waste our time with any of you. The rest of us prefer a class act, a
decent show. Good luck."
He hurried away to the curtain.

Lena
growled, "ugh, why did you do that?"

Kiara
turned back to face her while shaking her head. "You know why.
Or you should. He's the lead instrumenter from Rhythm."

"So?"
Lena said and shrugged. "He's also overdue a black eye."

"So
you injure him and the public will hate you," Kiara said.

Lena
laughed insincerely, "why do you care?"

Kiara
grimaced, shoulders tensed. "I was coming over to ask you the
same thing. You only talked to him to make it look like you weren't
keeping an eye on me."

"Nuh
uh," Lena grunted. "Mum said we could host a concert if I
find another group. I thought..."

She
got a scoff in response. Kiara smiled sweetly, "you're always
around in someway. Don't deny it. You were there at the end of my
first performance, you watched my second..."

"You
mean the one where you pretty much stuck your middle finger up at me
and told me good riddance, of course I saw it," Lena said like
she had a frog in her throat. Her face looked angry though, jaw was
clenched and cheeks were reddening. Kiara noticed her tone and
winced. "Forget it. Having two Human groups at the Voyager
concert beats the point in having one. Aren't you going to..."
Lena rapidly spoke and pointed.

Kiara
felt her eyes stinging, she tried to blink it away but that only
made it worse. "I didn't," she said through a throbbing
throat. "It's opposite, I'm glad you..."

"Go
on, the song won't hurt me as much without you there," Lena
hissed, stomping away. "I hear that enough anyway, why would I
want to hear it at my own concert?" Kiara heard her mumble to herself.

Naomi
approached carefully. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm,"
Kiara squeaked as she dabbed under her eyes. "Yeah, let's do this."

Gentle
piano music echoed around the already buzzing stadium. The
spotlights danced around the higher level of the stage, leaving the
floor in darkness.

"Half
the heart to fight you," voices sang in unison repeatedly.

The
spotlights pointed down on three band members in front of standing
microphones, as more instruments joined the piano.

In
the centre Kiara quickly took a deep breath to calm herself. It
didn't work, her shoulders still tensed. "Yesterday you said you
were alright, now you're tearing me apart tonight," she sounded
raspy still with a lump in her throat. Anyone watching the other two
band members caught them looking across at her in concern.

"First
you didn't want to talk to me, now you won't stop talking at
me," she continued, blinking away a tear forming. "Acting
like you're right, and everything's okay."

Bryan
and Naomi sang together for a few lines, building up to the chorus.

"Half
the heart to fight you, half the mind to leave. Torn between what I
want, and what I do. I'm completely divided, now it's me that's
undecided. That's the way it is, you throw back what I give. Only
half a heart."

Backstage
those lines could be heard clearly in the quiet corridors. James had
spotted Lena sitting in a corner on the floor, near one of the
dressing rooms. Her head bowed as if it were too heavy to keep up. He
sat down beside her and waited patiently.

She
looked him over, half heartedly frowning at him. "You're not
dressed yet."

He
gave her a smile in return, "and I assume you are?" Lena's
eyes briefly diverted from the ground to her t-shirt, she sighed in
response. "Craig always wants to get changed first."

Lena
rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Jessie waits until I go to the bathroom
or get a drink. I thought it'd be easier to give her the hour she needs."

"Is
that all?" James asked her.

He
was glad to see Lena laugh a little but had no idea why. "I'm
telling her you said that."

"What?"
James said until it hit him, his eyes widened, "ohno," he
stammered. "I meant is that your only reason you're sitting
here, down in the dumps?"

"I'm
fine," Lena brushed him off sharply.

"Uh
huh." James smiled weakly. "The end bit's a little hard
for me to sing. I think it'd have more meaning if you sang it instead
of me."

"No,"
Lena mumbled and shook her head. "Not it wouldn't mean
anything. I don't even get the lyrics."

James
turned his head to look straight ahead, grimacing slightly. He
turned back with a worried frown on his face. "You picked the song."

"Yeah
cos the chorus is like all in your face, and a flip off to all the
doubters," Lena replied rapidly. "The aliens will only get
the botched subtitles of what you're singing anyway, so who cares?"

"Right,"
James laughed, "so you wouldn't care if I make up any old crap,
or just hum along to that part?" Lena sharply glared at him, but
that only made him laugh even more. "I'd better go. I hope
Craig's got his pants on this time."

He
got up and walked off, leaving Lena twisting her face so much it
ached a little. "Eeew, I didn't need that image."

Virus
made their way to the curtains behind the staging area, each of them
wearing a similar watery shades of blue. The boys wore the same same
thing, light blue trousers with splashes of glitter down the side of
the legs which sparkled under direct light, and a similar shaded
t-shirt. The girls, a simple darker blue tank top to go with the
skirt. Jessie made sure to have leggings matching her top underneath
that though.

They
passed the previous act, the cutesy boyband, talking to another
group. One of them Lena recognised as the guy she argued with,
staring while shaking his head, she stared icily back.

The
other members of Virus didn't notice this until felt someone behind
looking at her. She peered over her shoulder, catching the lead
singer of the same group turning her attention back to her own band.

"What's
that about?" Craig asked.

"Nothing.
He's just a diva," Lena replied bitterly.

"Right,
he," Jessie mumbled, more than a little unnerved by it. She
chose to hide it and smile at James walking beside her. He looked
worried, staring straight ahead he hadn't noticed her. Still he
hooked his arm around hers all the way to the stage.

The
intermission music faded out, leaving the arena quiet and in the
dark. It was like that for a few minutes. A lot of the crowd were
confused, they knew there was still one act to go.

Music
started abruptly at the same time the gushing fountains were lit up.
It immediately faded into a gentle, beautiful serene instrumental
playing along with the sound of the fountains.

A
soft blue spotlight hovered over the staircase, eventually landing
on Jessie sitting halfway up, trying her best not to look nervous,
holding a mic by her chin.

"Through
wind and rain we got here, now we're flying with no fear," she
sang softly.

Not
many of the audience noticed someone step down behind her, due to
what little lighting there was. Jessie did. Their presence soothed
her, she smiled in the pause between her lines. "Through wind
and rain we burn bright, learn to fly through flames and hold tight."

The
crowd started to sway their arms slowly, quite a few held white
candle shaped flashing lights, which looked to anyone on the stage
like a dense starfield.

"With
so many ways to go wrong, but when I look in your eyes they're all
gone," Jessie continued, then rested her mic on her chest,
sighing in relief.

Drums
built up the so far soothing, calm music into a louder, yet haunting
and still somewhat slow piece of music. The light shining on Jessie
moved up and over to shine on James standing behind her, as he began
to sing what sounded like a chorus but on his own. Jessie took the
opportunity to discreetly curl the small of her arm around his leg,
only then noticing how much she was shaking.

The
supposed chorus over, three more spotlights danced across the stage,
losing everyone's sight on what band members they could see before.
The instrumental played over the sound of the crowd's approving cheers.

At
the top of the stage, all of the lights combined to shine over Lena
and follow her down the stairs. "It's only real, when you're not
around. I'm walking in the rain, the sun goes down, oh."

She
reached the bottom while singing her final line, the lights spread
out slightly to show Craig approaching. They turned around so they
were back to back while he sang his part. It didn't last, Lena joined
in with him, both of them swaying their spare arm up then down in
time with each other.

James
and Jessie meanwhile took each opposite edge of the stage as the
drums raised the intensity of the song once more.

With
the spotlights on each member of the band, they sang the same bit
James did earlier together this time. "And in my dreams it feels
like we are forty stories tall. When you're around, we're untouchable."

Chorus
over, Craig immediately dove into his next verse the best he could
over the deafening cheers they got for it. "It's only real when
you're not around. The candle in my hand, is burning out, oh!"

"I
know that love shouldn't be so hard," Jessie sang as she walked
across the stage to where he was. He did the same, they crossed paths
at her next line, "and sometimes we're standing in the
dark." On cue the lights died down completely for only a few
seconds. When they came back on, she'd turned so her left side was
facing the audience, with James facing her. "But you light up
everywhere I go."

They
sang together to the delight of certain people in the audience, one
of them obviously Tom having a good laugh while elbowing Harry beside
him. He rolled his eyes.

They
soon parted, stepping backwards to allow Lena to walk up between
them and take centre stage. This time she sang the chorus alone,
while Jessie and Craig strode up the stairs with the lights
occasionally losing them. They lost James as he went behind Lena.

"And
in my dreams it feels like we aren't ever gonna fall. We're safe and
sound, we're untouchable," Lena sang, holding the final word and
note for as long as she could. The crowd loved it and applauded her.

Each
of the spotlights turned off one by one, starting with Lena, then
Jessie and Craig's. The final one that had settled in the middle of
the stairs before it went off.

"Whenever
you're gone, gone..." everyone heard James's voice echo around.
The blue tinted lights faintly came on, too dark to see anyone on the
stage or on the stairs. All anyone could make out was a shadow at the top.

"They
wait at the door..." One spotlight tried to pierce the blue
light onto the shadow, allowing everyone to see him finally mid
sentence, "and everything's hurting like before."

"Without
any meaning, we're just skin and bone," he put his all into it,
holding notes and empathising a couple of the words. Loud, but not a
shouting, screaming way, but powerfully. He had a few seconds to take
in a deep breath in and out, "like beautiful robots dancing alone."

The
roaring crowd had settled down, almost silent by this point. The
rest of the band hidden in the shadows took their final positions.
Jessie glanced up to check on him, while Lena and Craig silently
worried about the reaction so far.

"Whenever
you're gone, they wait at the door," James continued either
oblivious or pretending he was. "And everything's,"
his voice caught in his throat very briefly, "hurting like before."

A
brief flicker from a few camera flashes caught Lena's stoney face as
she was glancing upward. Only a very few noticed it, the majority's
attention was elsewhere.

"Without
any meaning, we're just skin and bone. Like beautiful robots dancing
alone," the last word echoed over almost complete silence, the
quiet instrumental and the trickling of the fountains. The spotlights
changed to look like rain gently falling from the ceiling, the blue
started to fade away.

A
lot of the Voyager crew looked around, baffled by the aliens' reaction.

Harry
leaned in closer to whisper to Tom in case he was heard, "what's
the matter, it's not like he was bad."

"Dunno,
maybe the subtitles for him were wrong," Tom whispered back
with a frown.

On
Voyager, everyone watching in the Mess Hall were equally confused.
They could see the same thing, only with the two television hosts
quietly discussing between themselves while alien text scrawled
across the screen.

"I've
never seen this before, not this far in the competition,"
Eylene commented aloud first while facing the camera.

Jepp
nodded as the song's instrumental started building up in volume.
"Not in all my years either Eylene. I don't know if they hated
it or liked it. What a finish though..." The steadily increasing
sound of people clapping along interrupted him, he and his partner
looked even more confused than before. He forced a laugh, "oh
it's not over."

Spotlights
returned to shine on the entire band as they sang the chorus
together. After that it was definitely over, the music faded out and
the lights dimmed. The applause and cheers were deafening.

"Amazing,"
Eylene chuckled sincerely. "I think Virus have secured their
place in the semi-final, no question."

"Hmm,
it was a bit touch and go there for a moment. Perhaps they should've
saved this number for the final," Jepp said.

On
the ship and in the stadium, the Voyager crewmembers were a little
relieved but confused at the reaction.

Jessie
and Craig returned backstage first. Jessie waited around by the
curtain, while Craig hurried over to the nearby drinks being offered
by the staff.

It
had been a good half a minute, so Jessie peered through the
curtains. She immediately had to back off to avoid getting it swung
into her face by Lena marching through in the middle of an angry
grumble, "...what you did." She stared at Jessie briefly
before stomping off in between Craig and her.

James
followed only to stay by the curtain, straining his face like he was
biting his tongue, and literally too.

Lena
scanned her surroundings, quickly noticing the same two bands they
passed earlier were still around. She turned back towards Jessie and
James, face like thunder. "I knew it, they're laughing behind
our backs."

"About
what?" Craig asked at the same he repressed a hiccup from his
fast drinking. Lena stared back in disbelief, he felt his insides
shrivel up.

Jessie
shook her head in obvious disapproval. It was long gone by the time
she turned around towards James, she gave him a smile. "I told
you, that was brilliant."

James
laughed at himself, "so brilliant it killed everyone in the
room, like the Rihanna and Justin tribute band on the first week."

"Oh!"
Craig gasped in horror, "is that who I-Great were supposed to
be?" Lena snatched the rest of his glass to down it.

"Well
I thought it was gorgeous," Jessie said dismissively, wrapping
her arms around James' shoulders. Despite the audience, she gave him
a peck on the lips.

Lena
eyed the bands. The boyband had already wandered off, but the one
she'd argued with stood around. "You would," she muttered.

Jessie
sharply turned her head her way, "what's your problem?"
she asked while pulling back a touch.

"Nothing,"
Lena said while faking a smile. "It's what everyone else's
problem is." She stomped off in the opposite direction to the
staring band.

Jessie
peered around James curiously, he looked over his shoulder. They
both noticed the group moving away, so they quickly broke apart as if
nothing happened.

Craig
frowned, "where did I put my glass?"

The
Mess Hall:Tables
had been shuffled around to create a sitting area in front of the
large screen that had been brought in a few nights earlier. Instead
of showing the competition, a programme about the tour was playing.
The two hosts excitedly talked about the semi-finale, while repeats
of the performances played in the background.

Jessie,
James and Duncan sat at a nearby table. Duncan kept glancing over at
the screen, then at them. He seemed to remember he had breakfast left
and tucked into that.

James
sighed. "How the hell did we get through to the semi's?"
he asked in between a forkful of food and a sip of his drink.

"Gee,"
Jessie chuckled, glancing at the screen he had his back to.
Typically a repeat of their performance was on, spliced up to show
the best bits, she assumed. "Apparently, I don't need to be biased."

James
frowned, "huh?" Jessie smiled and shook her head. Still
his face didn't change, "Lena was right. I shouted that last
part, ruined it. If it weren't for the last chorus, we'd be out."

Duncan
peered up at him with his brow lowering, he pointed his puzzled face
towards Jessie. "Why is he lying? You said lying bad."

Jessie
giggled to herself while James froze, more than confused. "Yes
James," she said, making his confusion worse. "Stop lying
to him. You need to set a good example for your son."

James
almost spat out his drink and laughed genuinely, "that is a
good one." His attention went back to his breakfast, mumbling
while scooping some food, "me, good example."

"Crap?"
Duncan sounded like he scoffed. He shook his head, "Silly daddy."

The
mirth faded from James' face in an instant. Jessie though quietly
sniggered at Duncan's comment.

"It's
not... with the band I don't usually care if I do well or not. The
silence spoke for itself, that's all," James said, trailing off
when he noticed Lena and Kiara walk in together, followed by Craig
and the rest of Kiara's band. "Uh... something's really wrong
with this picture."

Jessie
peered around to see what he was talking about as the group reached
the table. She recoiled from the rare sight of Lena and Kiara
together, not arguing.

"Oh,
they haven't announced it yet?" Lena said, eyeing the screen.

"They've
already told us next week's theme. What else is there?"
Jessie said.

Lena
didn't answer, instead her eyes lit up and she pointed at the
screen. "Ah this must be it."

James
and Jessie reluctantly turned around to watch the screen. The
announcers had a screen behind them showing a still promotional image
of their group.

"Now
this is quite the surprise," Jepp said. "We've been told
that Virus will not be attending Jailbreakers' summer bash at the weekend..."

"What?"
Jessie snapped.

James
stared up at the smiling Lena. He didn't have time to ask, the
announcer continued. "... citing unforeseen circumstances.
Taking their place will be Ausfalt tribute band Faultsa. Of course
this has..."

Lena
walked over while he was talking to mute the TV, much to everyone in
the room's annoyance. "It's okay. I got..."

"They've
replaced us with a tribute band?" Jessie stammered over the top
of her, offended and a little angry.

"Wait,
what do you mean our news?
What's happened here?" James asked, gesturing to the screen.

"Well,"
Lena said, glancing at the uncomfortable looking Kiara beside her.
"I asked mum about hosting our own promotional concert. She
thought with both bands getting to the semi's that it'd be a good idea."

"Then
she dunked her head in her coffee mug, might I add," Craig
meekly said from behind her.

Jessie
stared blankly between the pair, "so, to all?"

Lena
tried not to laugh, "well duh, it's obvious. We can't be in two
places at once."

James
glanced back over his shoulder at the TV showing English subtitles
over the top of alien text occasionally appearing at the bottom of
the screen. The hosts were reading some from cards, grimacing.
Judging from that and some of the translated text, he wasn't the only
one who had a problem with the news.

"You
did this?" he asked, standing up with a hardening face.
"You cancelled on one of the favourites to win, as well as the
semi final's hosts, inviting us to their event, so you can do what
you always do; perform Die Barbie slash songs on the Holodeck here?"

Lena's
face fell in a matter of seconds. She looked at Jessie, she was
grimacing from what James had said but anger was in her eyes as well.
Kiara hinted at her group to leave them all to it, but they were
already side stepping away.

"Hey
look, I'm still mad that Kiara bitched about me in all of her songs,
but if we're both at the same concert, they'll think..." Lena
said, sounding very surprised at their reaction.

"That
we're blowing off aliens who'll never see us again, for people we
can perform for at anytime, at the last bloody second," James
snapped back.

Lena's
jaw dropped, eyes sharpened and pointed only at him. "yeah
exactly, what does it matter! It's for a good cause. We pretend to
get along and both Pulse and Virus will be flying to the finals. Why
are you being so arsey about this?"

"Oh
I don't know, because the Voyager crew can't vote, we can't invite
many people up here to watch so what's the point? And you've
just pissed off an entire planet with this," James answered,
voice rising. "Probably more, this is a popular band with fans everywhere."

Lena
scoffed, once more turning her attention to Jessie. "Tell him
to calm his ass down before I humiliate him in front of his kid."

Duncan
laughed, angering her more. "Good one."

Jessie
started to tremble as she ground her jaw in an attempt to calm
herself. "He's right, so no. But you'll accuse me of taking his
side, so why bother talking to me at all?"

"This
is a much better idea than being upstaged by the musical
pantomime!" Lena shouted at them both. Craig nodded timidly.

Jessie
coughed, pointing at him. Lena looked around, huffed and shot her
attention back at Jessie. "Oh I see, that's how it is?"

"Ohno,
not even close," Jessie faked a laugh. "Any group that
snubs a mass of fans for another, especially ones that see them all
the time, I want nothing to do with. Too bad, I don't have a choice
in the matter."

"Come
off it, Jailbreakers' planet won't give a crap about us cancelling
on them. You're having a hissy over nothing," Lena snarled.

Several
days later the four hovering buses each carrying a band inside
arrived at an arena standing almost on top of a beach. It appeared to
have no roof over it, only a sparkling forcefield. Built on a
slightly raised hill, parts of it including the staff entrance to the
arena hovered over the sands. People who wanted shade tucked
underneath it.

The
two suns were still high in the sky. Although the human bands were
warned about it, they still reeled when they stepped out of their air
conditioned transport into the scorching suns.

Each
band were told to wait until one was called into the arena. The host
band, the infamous Jailbreakers went first along the bridged path
going over the edge of the sand. Everyone on the beaches had already
rushed over when the buses arrived, so they clambered up the hills to
get a good look at the band. They got a roaring applause and cheers,
they waved back at their fans on their way into the building.

The
second band called over got a similar response as they made their
way across. Before entering, the lead singer and the man who Lena got
into an argument with looked across at the human bands still waiting,
he with a sneer on his face.

Pulse
were next, they were relieved to get a warm welcome, even if it was
quieter than the two alien groups.

James
and Jessie tensed, knowing their turn was next. Lena was completely
opposite, excited and raring to go. Craig kept to himself, hoping his
other bandmembers were overreacting.

When
they were called the cheers and clapping stopped. Like during their
previous performance, it went eerily quiet as they crossed the
bridge. They tried to cross the bridge at a normal pace but the quiet
was making each of them uncomfortable. Jessie and then Craig
quickened their pace to get in sooner.

James
glanced over his shoulder at Lena as he stood at the door, waiting
for her. She expected something from him after that response, but he
only waited for her to go through first, then he followed.

"We're
screwed," Craig moaned as he sat, peering up at the darkening
sky. It was still hot and sticky, but nowhere near as much as it had
been earlier. He still picked at his tight red trousers that felt
like they were stuck to him.

James
stood nearby, leaned against the wall, peeling off the dark red
jacket with a few grimaces. Craig heard him inhale through his teeth
with one and looked up curiously. "How the hell did I burn
through this?"

Craig
groaned, "you didn't, it's just the heat." James sighed
and tossed the jacket to one side. Craig cringed at the resulting
clatter that made. "Don't tell Lena this but..."

"I
was right," James finished for him, not sounding proud at all.

"Ye...yeah,"
Craig reluctantly said, staring at his knees. "How are we going
to get through two songs if everyone hates us."

"Simple,
we do our few lines, let Lena do all the adlibbing again and pretend
we're only in rehearsals," James answered.

"No,"
Craig shook his head, he noticed he was starting to tremble.
"You may be used to people hating you, but nobody really cares
or notices me. I dunno if I can handle this."

James
frowned down at him, fortunately with a small smile tugging the
corner of his lips. "I'm not even going to touch that one."

A
knock on the door interrupted an annoyed Craig before he could open
his mouth. They didn't answer but still the male of their two guides
walked in without a care in the world.

"Okay
gentlemen, we've got a lot of work to do before we go on," he
said giddily. "The first theme of the night is the Summer's Eve
festival, and unfortunately that's the one you're having trouble
getting right."

Craig
blinked rapidly, eyes widening a little. "Wait, it's not even
summer here yet?" The guide laughed and shook his head.
"Fine, I suppose that's why we have to be out of our comfort
zone with our song choice. I'm already there."

The
guide glanced toward James expectantly, brow furrowed. "No.
Summer's Eve celebrates the dawn of the second sun. In ancient times,
the people here used to believe it was the devil summoning its beasts
to attack the heavens."

Craig
had a blank look on his face. James though rolled his eyes.
"We're doing their Halloween one first," he said in
a plain voice. Craig pretended he got it and nodded. "What are
we doing wrong then?"

"Well,
Miresha and I agree that it's missing a certain something. We can
sneak it in without much practise. We think it should repair the
damage of the last week," the guide replied.

Craig
flinched, his shoulders sank. "Is it really that bad?"

The
guide smiled in his direction, "well I've seen worse."

Craig's
face turned pale at that answer. "But, we had a good reason to cancel."

"Which
was?" the guide asked but pleasantly, it threw Craig off.
"If I were you, I'd come up with a new reason just in case
you're asked. Rumours are circulating."

"Right?"
Kiara mumbled to herself. "I just don't like that song anymore,
it's silly."

"And
we go bump, and bump, bump," Naomi said in a robotic voice, "isn't?"

Kiara
groaned as if disgusted, "Bryan's just mad he only got to sing
in the choruses."

"Like
he did the last time, and in the next one too," Naomi said,
clicking her tongue after. She walked off, leaving Kiara alone with
her thoughts.

She
snapped out of it when she spotted Lena and the rest of her group
approach in awkward silence, so she hurried away to avoid getting
involved in another spat.

The
red-dressed group headed up to the stage wordlessly once they were
given their cue. They could hear the audience but couldn't see them
with the thick curtain in between them. Several workers finished
fixing a circular platform with mic's attached around the edge onto
the stage, avoiding any eye contact with the band.

Once
they were gone, Lena nudged the edge of it a little, making it spin
on the spot. She laughed weakly, "well at least it's not Seven-trapped."

"Good
stuff," Jessie commented plainly with a straight face.

Lena
chose to ignore her and step onto the platform and take one of the
mic's. The others did the same, each one dreading what was coming.

They
heard their band name announced, shocked that they still got some
claps and cheers. There were boos mixed into it too. Electric guitars
signalled the start of their performance, the curtain rose as the
band but on their game faces.

As
the song played, they took the mic from the stand and started waving
the stand itself side to side, in time with the music. Since their
stage was a circle, only Lena and Craig were directly facing the
majority of the audience. Something Jessie was relieved about
considering the mixed reactions.

"Heart
is thumping, I'm here all alone," Craig kept his voice low,
trying to smile at the same time. He dared himself to look ahead,
quickly relieved as he could see a number of people cheering and
dancing along, the booers were nowhere in his sight. "Something's
banging on the nearby wall."

Lena
swung around the stand to prop herself against it, then slid down
it, "they're stalking my grave, I gotta let them go."

She
knew it without seeing it, Kathryn spat multiple feathers and
chugged her giant flask of coffee.

Once
Lena slid back up to a standing position, all four of them put the
mic's back on the stand, then leaned to the right bringing the stand
and mic with them. The platform began to slowly turn.

"Blood
is running in the wrong direction," James sang when he could
face the audience. He brought his fingers to his face, pointing to
the left with two fingers.

The
group leaned forward, slowing the platform to a near stop.
"Gotta feeling that's a mixed up sign," Jessie sang so
softly, it was close to a whisper.

They
all maneuvered to the left this time, sending them spinning very
slowly again. "I can see it in my own reflection," Lena
sang toward the people at the side of the stage.

For
now the cheers were overwhelming the booing, still they could hear them.

"Dunno
what..." James sang while pushing his spare hand out, turning
his hand so it looked like he was offering something. "Is
pushing me further."

"Like
the gusts from the trees above," Craig tried to put some extra
oomph in his voice, it came out a little shaky.

"Then
it drops, and catches on fire," Jessie sang her line trying not
to cringe at that.

Lena
tried to stir up the crowd by raising her hand rapidly, "it's
the sound I, it's the sound I..." The rest of the group joined
in for the chorus.

"It's
the sound of the underground. The beats of my heart go round and
around. Into the overflow, where the ghouls jump down to the sound of
the reaper. Out of my eccentric mind, the beasts jump out in the back
street's
light. The creeps come around and around. It's the sound of the
under, sound of the underground."

With
the platform still turning, they took the mic's off the stands again
to walk around in the opposite direction. Doing so brought the
platform seemingly to a stop, this time with James and Jessie at the front.

"Chain
reaction running through my veins," Jessie sang, starting the
others off with the stand swinging again. "Pumps the fear right
up into my brain."

James
kept a hold of his stand as he walked forward a couple steps.
"Screws with my mind until I lose control." He leaned
forward while the others crouched down beside their stands smoothly.
"And when the building rocks I know it's got my soul."

The
others got up quickly to retake their standing positions, while
James walked around back to his stand. He repeated his earlier line;
"blood is running in the wrong direction." They all did the
same routine up until and including the chorus.

Once
that was over the lights fell to show only their shadows, a guitar
instrumental started playing as they danced and walked around the stage.

Just
before the lights came back on, they returned to the circular
platform. All except James who stood right in front of it. As the
music faded into a quieter moment, Lena and Jessie returned to their
mic's. Lena pulled a face and looked around, confused. Craig
pretended to do the same.

Only
James started to sing over the quieter music. Lena looked across,
trying her best not to look mad. "I dunno what is pushing me
further. Like the gusts from the trees above."

"Then
it drops, and catches on fire. It's the sound I, it's the sound
I..." James continued, intentionally oblivious to this, his
voice rising with each repeat. He stepped partly onto the platform at
the same time. He slid that foot backwards and forward, but it didn't
move, the platform did. He got on for the final, "the sound
I..." pushing it into its usual slow spin.

The
rest of the group improvised, knowing that was the start of the
chorus again. James dragged out the last word he sang until halfway
through it. The audience loved it much to Lena's annoyance, which she
kept behind a smiley mask.

As
the song started to fade out, she sang over the others. "The
beasts jump out in the back street's light." She repeated it one
more time to close off the song.

The
resulting applause and cheers overwhelmed any boos they might have
gotten. Lena's smile at hearing that wasn't faked to the rest of the
band's relief. But as soon as the curtains fell, she stormed off
quickly with fire in her eyes.

"Um,
what the hell was that?" Jessie asked, a little annoyed herself.

Craig
looked at her, panicked and ran off after Lena. Jessie wasn't sure
what to make of that, shook her head and looked at James.

He
let out a sigh, "apparently our fans prefer it when I take the
lead. We needed something after everything."

Jessie
was momentarily speechless. She stammered a bit as she walked
forward. "And you knew Lena wouldn't agree, so I didn't hear
about it either."

James
shook his head, "I figured you'd been told at least."

"Oh,"
Jessie groaned. The staff entering the stage gestured at them to
leave, and urgently. The pair quickly left, leaving them to clean up
after them. Once they were alone again, Jessie hinted for him to
stop. "If I were Lena..."

James
stared at the floor, grimacing. "I know, I wouldn't blame her.
I wasn't too keen on it either, but she wants to win this. If it
helps her to do that then..."

"It
won't if you two are at each other's throats," Jessie pointed
out. He nodded like he expected that. "Come on, I'll watch your back."

Inside
the stadium's version of the results room, Lena stood at the buffet
table merely staring at it. Craig had tried to find anywhere safe to
hide, but couldn't so opted to hanging out with Pulse at the sofa and
TV area.

"Okay,"
Lena said, even smiling.

James
and Jessie exchanged worried and very confused glances. Jessie dared
to look forward first, "you're fine with this?"

"Someone
could've told me," Lena said, looking away towards Craig and
Pulse. He noticed and shrunk down in his seat. "But it went down
better than the Untouchable fiasco so... who am I to complain?"

Jessie's
eyebrow twitched slightly. James noticed and quickly chimed in
before she could, "maybe we should get some last minute practise
for the second song."

"Yeah,
as long as it's still the same," Lena sighed and shrugged. She
walked over to the sofa area. Craig turned into a nervous wreck much
to everyone elses' amusement.

"So
Lena, was that song inspired by real life events?" Kiara asked
while smiling sweetly.

Lena
turned around while narrowing her eyes. For once it looked a little
in jest, "damn you, that was gonna be my insult."

Kiara
giggled, "well I was first."

"Girls,"
Craig stammered as a warning, pointing to the door. "Maybe not now."

Lena
looked across expecting one of their competition, instead it looked
like a group of six reporters with a few cameras. "Oh
great," she groaned.

James
and Jessie walked across the room to join her and Craig. Lena looked
at them alarmed, and hurriedly climbed on the chair so she was
kneeling on it and facing them. "Hey, you guys go on a makeout
break or something."

"I've
seen these guys, they're tabloid twats," Lena whispered to
them, eyes rapidly pointing between the approaching reporters and the
pair. "You two are like twenty Christmases at once for these people."

"What?"
James said, still confused.

They
were almost on them. Lena looked to Craig, hoping he'd help her. He
coughed to clear his nervous throat, "they're the Tom's of the
journalist world."

"Oh,"
James and Jessie both said at once, suddenly very worried. It was
also too late for them to leave without being rude.

"Just
keep quiet, Craig and I will do all the talking," Lena said.
Craig took that as a cue to get up and join them.

"And
we...?" James wondered.

"Just
stand around and erm, look pretty or whatever," Lena replied.

"Pretty?"
James tried not to laugh.

"That's
a hard job for him, Lena," Craig whispered. Lena shrugged.

The
reporters reached them, all pointing nosey smiles at them. They all
took turns asking questions, to which mostly Lena answered with Craig
chiming in now and then. James and Jessie nodded along.

One
of the reporters looked at them, "you two are being really
quiet. Is everything okay?"

Another
reporter frowned, disappointed. "Well I have a question for them."

"Oh
boy, goodie," Lena said through a gritted teeth fake grin.

"There's
a lot of people who'd love to know for sure. From your performances,
the videos and some behind the scenes gossip, if it's true you two
are a couple?" the same reporter asked.

"No,"
Lena replied before they could even finish blushing.

All
of the reporters looked intrigued, the one who had asked even more
so. "I didn't mean you, dear." He looked at the so far
quiet pair.

"It's
as she says, no," Jessie said.

"Hmm,
but you two seem awfully close in your performances," the
reporter said, while the others made notes.

Lena
noticed them, she tried quickly to think of something to stop them.

"We
are, not in the way you think though," James said, instantly
stopping them and getting their very confused attention. "I
think our people have different customs to you, that's probably why,
we gave you the wrong idea. Our people are private and wouldn't, erm
show it off in the open."

"I
see," one of the reporters sounded disappointed. They all
seemed to buy it though.

Another
slid to the front with their own separate camerawoman to the others,
pointing a microphone at them. "What's your opinion on your
competition? Who'd you like to win if you don't?"

"Honestly,
I like them all. Rhythm's singer is amazing, Pulse are fun and since
they're our shipmates..." Jessie said.

Craig
nodded rapidly, "yeah I quite like Jailbreaker." James and
Jessie looked at him as if he had outed them to the reporters. "I
um, wish we... I hadn't gotten food poisoning and cancelled.
Performing with them would've been awesome."

"Um
yeah, thanks Neelix," Craig tried to laugh and put up a thumbs
up at the camera.

Some
of the reporters laughed with him and jotted a few things down. The
one who'd asked the question wasn't done though, "who do you
think will win?"

"That's
tricky, they all have strong points," James said. "We
meanwhile are very lucky to get this far."

"So
the rumours about your feuds with every band left in the competition
are fake?" another reporter asked.

Craig
flushed with worry. "What, no? We're close with Pulse.
Jailbreaker were pretty understanding. I haven't had the chance to
meet anyone in Rhythm yet, I'd like to. Dunno where that's coming from."

"I'm
not surprised, they're not that welcoming to visitors," Lena
said a little bitterly. She regretted it immediately before all the
microphones and cameras turned to her. "It's okay, it's not a
feud. It was barely an anything."

James
cringed while the camera was off him. "Definitely fake. We're
here to have fun. Apart from Craig's idea to eat Neelix's clearly
mouldy crumpets the other day, it has been."

Craig
scowled at him. "It wasn't clearly."

One
of the reporters thankfully came to their rescue, "they say
none of your songs are original. They're songs from long ago."

"No,"
Lena answered sharply.

Jessie
had answered yes half a second later, she winced afterwards.

"Which
is it?" the same reporter asked.

"They
are, mostly. The lyrics have been changed in some of them,"
James replied.

"We
do this for fun in between our jobs," Jessie added on. "We
call them parodies on our world."

"I
see," the reporter was happy with that answer.

Lena
frowned, "are you going to ask the other bands the same
questions?" Everyone looked at her, her bandmates in growing
horror. "I mean Jailbreaker apparently cover songs all the time,
they're a performance act after all, not songwriters."

"Our
questions are ones our watchers asked," one reported piped up.

"I
was just asking," Lena said, sounding a little offended.

The
reporters finished making notes. Two of them decided to go and
pester Kiara's group instead. The ones left smiled politely and
thanked them before doing the same.

"Wow,
way to go everyone," Lena grumbled.

"What?"
James scoffed, "we tried to curb the gossip, unlike someone."

"Oh
please, they already know the stuff I said," Lena said.

Jessie
laughed insincerely, "oh right, so we gotta shut up just in
case the reporters spread the usual couple gossip, which doesn't
affect whether people like us. But you're allowed to slag off other bands..."

"I
didn't..." Lena tried to butt in angrily.

"Let
me finish!" Jessie snapped back, cueing everyone to stare at
her. Craig squeaked and backed away. "Craig covered for you,
James convinced them of the not a couple thing, I complimented our
competition. You got all defensive and snotty, so chuck that way
to go everyone that isn't mecrap
into the bin before you ruin this again for us."

"Again!?"
Lena stammered furiously. "I cancelled our concert because of
you and James..."

"No
you didn't, you and Craig still went," James said.

Lena
gasped in offense. "To watch, we didn't..." James and
Jessie's look towards her told her they weren't going to buy it, or
they already knew. "Of course, you're just taking her side to
protect her. You know I'd win without breaking a sweat."

Jessie
rolled her eyes, "oh god Lena, get a new tune."

"Please,"
Lena faked a laugh, "that's what he does. Sarcasm and treating
you like a damsel. Too bad he's not very good at it."

Craig
once more squeaked and side stepped further away until he was out of
harm's way, which turned out to be in the corridor outside.

James'
face meanwhile hardened in Lena's direction, she smiled smugly at
him. "What does that mean?"

"You
know what I mean, you schmuck. It'd be funny if it wasn't so deadly
for Jessie," Lena said.

Lena
shrugged them off with ease, "yeah Jess, I can say the same
about you. He may be a terrible protector, Slayer, anything, but if I
were him I'd be offended everytime you tried to help me out. Ask Craig."

They
all noticed Craig had gone when she said that. They all mentally
shrugged that off, not surprised in the slightest.

"Oh
so sorry, your perfectness. I get it, we'll get out of your perfect
way," Jessie said in a fake polite voice. Then she started to
walk away, but stopped when she thought of something else. "You
know, maybe Kiara has a point. It's always you." Jessie stormed
off, leaving Lena a little shellshocked and definitely offended.

"James,"
Lena tried to scold him to stop him from walking off too, but she
sounded vulnerable. "I'm trying, okay? It's hard."

James
looked at her with his face blank, she had no idea what he was
feeling about her. "I know," he said in a tone that was
almost understanding, before he left as well.

All
four bands had performed once, the crowd were very eager for the
second round. To keep them occupied until then, the usual two hosts
were displayed on a projected image over the curtain, discussing the
event so far. The occasional clip of a performance or an interview
was played in between topics.

The
image faded away, the lights dimmed, setting the crowd off into an
excited frenzy.

Pretty
soon Kiara, Naomi and Bryan were back on the stage, which had been
made to look like a beach. The background a live shot of the sea.
Summery music played as they danced around the stage.

Bryan
looked pleased to get a part of the verse next, once done he had a
massive grin on his face as he got a massive cheer.

Naomi
tried to do her bit in a sultry tone, it came off as more cute than
anything. The three then threw themselves into a very lively chorus
compared to the light verses.

After
that Bryan was up again, very eager to go. "Sugar just gimme
your notes, I'll play it all the time. You know please is the word,
but hey, the word is mine." Of course his parents beamed proudly
at his much bigger part. "I don't do work, but I do keep my own
pace. So I suggest you wipe that nag from off your face."

Naomi
walked up, repeating his earlier lines from the beginning. She
finished by giving the crowd a wink, then put her hand out for Kiara
to tag in.

"So
1, 2, 3 now baby, here we go," Kiara sang with a giggle.

The
chorus kicked off again. Since the audience were expecting it, they
mostly stood up in anticipation so they could dance along.

Kathryn
meanwhile sighed contently, "aaaw, isn't she so cute?"
Chakotay smiled warmly at her. "Another of my babies dedicating
a song to me." Chakotay mentally kicked himself for not seeing
that coming. He laughed and shook his head.

The
band got a standing ovation and a rip roaring cheer once they were
finished. They each did a little bow, thanking them before they left.

The
intermission between them and the next act seemed a lot longer than
the last time. A lot of the Voyager crew were worried, since they
knew who were next.

Kathryn
chugged her fourth flask. "Oh dear, maybe I should go check on
them." She was about to get up, Chakotay quickly grabbed her arm
to stop her. "Oooh," she giggled, "you pick your
moments Chucky."

"No,"
Chakotay groaned. "They'll be on soon. Be patient."

As
soon as he said that the curtains drew, revealing a misty stage.
Only a piano played. Two microphone stands in the middle, which
confused the crowd into thinking Rhythm were next instead.

Jessie
stepped out of the mist though, bringing a mic to her lips while
walking up to one of the two stands. She sang a few lines before a
rock track started playing instead of the piano, she raised her voice
to be heard over it.

Craig
ran out to take the other mic, occasionally shouting, "wake me
up," and "save me," into it. James and Lena rallied
around at opposite sides of the stage with hand mic's, singing along
with Jessie.

Lena
approached Jessie near the end of the chorus, she moved off without
even looking at her. Acting as if that didn't bother her, Lena
started doing the second verse.

After
another chorus, Lena harmonised with the instrumental while Craig
whispered his lines. She moved off long before James walked over to
take the stand instead of her.

"Only...
you are my life, among the dead!" While he sang the last line,
Craig started to sweat about something, his eyes darting around.

It
didn't take long for everyone to find out why. Immediately after
James finished singing the last word, it was his turn. This time he
didn't try to shout, he used his gentle singing voice. "All of
this time, I can't believe I couldn't see. Trapped in the dark, but
you were there to follow me."

James
took the mic from the stand, turning to face him when he took over.
"I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems." His vastly
different singing power to Craig's didn't clash like expected, they
went together nicely. The crowd were revved up by it, clapping their
hands above their heads. "Got to open my eyes to everything!"

Craig
seemed a little bit more relaxed. "Without thought, without a
voice, without a soul."

James
lowered his voice to a whisper with the mic very close to his lips,
"don't let me die here."

Craig
took in a deep breathe and tried his hand at singing loudly like him
after all, "there must be something more!" It sounded more
like a yell but it fit the music style.

"Bring
me, to life!" James finished off the middle eight, overpowering
him effortlessly.

The
girls joined in to sing the chorus with him, with Craig back on
shouty adlibbing duties. The mist started to settle down, revealing
what looked like a platform high above their heads. People swore they
saw someone there, walking steadily across the beam.

On
the last, "bring me to life," drawn out for quite a while,
the figure jumped over the edge. They didn't fall far. Everyone
gasped in horror and disgust as the she hung there by her throat, a
tightly wound noose was clear for even people at the back to see.

The
band noticed from the movement above them and abruptly stopped, as
shocked as the crowd. Lena had her eyes closed while she sang, so
she'd missed it. The sound of the audience's horrified reaction got
her attention. She noticed people pointing, everyone talking. She
peered up to find the corpse hanging directly above her head.

Her
chilling screams echoed around the entire, mostly silent stadium
long after she'd ran off.

Jessie
looked around, noticing James no longer where he was. She had a
feeling why and so looked over to the platform's supporting pillar
behind them. There he was as she expected, trying to climb up. He
didn't get far when it and the body fizzled out of existence like the
holograms they truly were, so he didn't fall too far. At the same
time the lights around the arena went out as well.

"Oh
my god..." Jessie stuttered and ran over to him. The boos and
shouting that were getting thrown at them, as well as literal things
being thrown, were the last thing on her mind. Craig though was so
unnerved he ran off as well.

James
got up just as Jessie got to him. He nodded, "I'm fine,"
he said quietly. They didn't dare eye the audience, they left as well.

"What
the hell was that, what were you thinking?" Kathryn roared at
the three remaining members. Behind her, Chakotay kept attempting to
get a word in. "Even if you pulled that stunt during the scary
theme, it was extremely..."

James
shook his head, "we didn't do it!" he shouted back at her,
cutting her off momentarily.

"That
much is obvious," Chakotay tried to chime in also.

Kathryn
stared at each of them while blinking more than usual. She rolled
her eyes, keeping them to one side. "Well I'm sorry if it
reminded me of your last edgy Halloweeny performance."

Jessie
looked up from her lap with hardening eyes directed at the Captain.
"The only thing it had in common was your teenage daughter
screaming, and this one sounded pretty genuine to me."

"I
didn't expect this to be one of her ideas," Kathryn said
dismissively, "just like all the other recent ones."

Chakotay
stepped forward hurriedly. "I think we're getting off track
here," he said with a strained smile. All eyes but Jessie's
turned to him. "Each stadium has a security system built to stop
outside interference. The signal for the holograms must've come from
within." He gestured the hand holding a tricorder, it squealed
briefly. "They've got a dampening field in effect now, so I
imagine they'll find out where it came from soon enough."

"Within?"
Craig said with a new frog in his throat, "that could be
anyone. The staff, any of the bands, the bands' visitors backstage,
our officials."

"The
whole audience," James added on in a flat tone.

Chakotay
sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately we're on our own. No one's
allowed to leave. Even if we were, the dampening field, as well as
the stadium's normal security measures, is stopping us from getting
through to Voyager."

"Then
perhaps we should do a head count, then keep us all together,"
Kathryn said. Chakotay looked back over his shoulder toward her.
"Take one of these three, and get on it. Bring Kiara and Lena
here first."

"Actually..."
Chakotay objected not to anyone's surprise, though it still made
Kathryn's eyebrow twitch, "I'd recommend against taking any
familiar faces. You and I may be able to mix in with the alien crowd,
but everyone knows them."

Kathryn
firmly shook her head, "in the dark, I don't think so."
She turned to where she remembered the band members were. "James,
you go with him. I hope I don't have to tell you this, but if any
trouble flares up..."

"And
yet you're still gonna tell me. I know," James said, already on
his way out.

Chakotay
heard the door click open, so hurried over while turning on the
tricorder's little flashlight. He almost collided with a figure going
the opposite way.

"Excuse
me, Commander," they heard a familiar voice come from them. A
brief flicker of the strobe light Kathryn bought so she could see her
coffee during the concert, and they all recognised her as both of the
band's guide, Miresha. "I apologise for taking so long. Security
at first refused to tell me anything."

"At
first, so what do you know?" Chakotay asked, double backing
through the door.

Kathryn
cleared her throat and pointed, not that he could see. "Stay
with James!" she hissed.

"Really,
I'm probably more in danger with him than without," Chakotay
groaned, turning to leave once again.

Kathryn
scoffed, hiding her smirk in the dark. "How cute, he thinks
he's the one I'm worried about." Jessie side eyed her with a
steadily raising eyebrow. As if she sensed it, Kathryn laughed
meekly. "So, what have you learned?"

Miresha
shut the door behind her. She waited for the very little noise
outside the room to simmer down before she answered, "they can't
find the source of the holographic signal. They're thinking of
resuming the competition as a ruse, to lower the guard of the perpetrator."

"So
maybe you shouldn't be telling us this," Kathryn said.

Miresha
was about to respond, but Jessie exhaled sharply. "For god's
sake. Why would we sabotage our own performance, especially when we
already have a sketchy reputation?" she snapped.

"Don't
keep getting your pants in a bunch Jessie or you won't be able to
take them off at the end of the night. You might need to stand out
less, you know," Kathryn sniped back. Craig's eyes widened, he
started to shake fearfully.

"Yes
well..." Miresha said quickly with a customer service smile
painted on. Her voice soon caught up as Jessie stood, looking ready
to retort. "I'd suggest preparing your crewmembers for a quick
exit once we're all cleared to leave. Unfortunately we need to be a
mile from the stadium to get any kind of signal to and from your ship."

Craig
made a little gasp, "oh, is that why we always have to be taken
to these things via buses and stuff?"

Kathryn
ignored him, shaking her head. "Perhaps you can ask for more
time than everyone else. An earlier exit time during the results
portion of the show, to avoid any trouble."

"That
is what Reve is attempting to organise," Miresha said.
"Pulse and Lena have already been escorted into a secured room.
How many of your people were backstage or in the audience?"

"I'd
say roughly a dozen, Chakotay should..." Kathryn said over the
sound of the door, it put her off. Craig and Miresha looked around,
she pointed a tiny finger sized torch at it. She couldn't see anyone,
it looked shut. By the time she pointed it towards the others,
Kathryn already knew what had happened. "Jessie. Idiot,"
she grunted.

Craig
nervously glanced between the two women left. "It's okay, she's
probably just going to cool off. Most of the people mad at us will be
nowhere near backstage, right?"

"I'm
still trying to understand who'd hate us, or just your group enough
to do something like this," Kathryn said.

"I
don't think it's about hate," Miresha chimed in, getting both
of their attention back. "It's only about winning, bringing
pride to your planet. The war's still going on in a way. An outsider
winning would make the contest meaningless to most. It could be anyone."

"Comforting,"
Craig commented after a worried gulp.

Miresha
nodded grimly. "Nutropa and Yuma, Jailbreaker and Rhythm, it'll
make no difference to some. It always comes down to these two, every
year." Kathryn made a little curious hmph sound, she thought of
as cue to go on or explain. "It's curious, why this happened now
and not at the final. Unless one of them were worried they wouldn't
make it, but with Virus's reputation of late, they're almost
guaranteed a place, so why?"

"Were
they really? Until the hangwoman, the people who didn't like them
were in the minority," Kathryn pointed out.

"Hmm
perhaps," Miresha said, not sounding certain. "But who
they chose, and the placement. Neither would have gone so low, but
neither of yours wouldn't have known about the incident to pull this
off. Though you could've found out..."

"Hold
on. What are you talking about?" Kathryn asked.

Miresha
tried to swallow a lump in her throat, she timidly nodded.
"Asyla Reqim of Nutropa. A century ago she was a rising starlet,
beloved by both her home planet and even Yuma. The media as they
always do broke her down, sharing everything she did, following her.
She reached the final, only to hang herself in front of everyone at
the end of her song, exactly like the hologram did." Craig and
Kathryn looked on in horror, Craig shuddered from it. "Yuma had
two representatives in that final. The bands were sympathetic but the
planet's people were furious that Nutropa were given the win as a
mark of respect. It caused much unrest. Both planets almost went to
war again."

"No,"
Miresha sounded alarmed, "this was a long time ago. Both sides
will know better than to disrespect Asyla's memory in this fashion.
So why?"

"Neither
of them want to risk missing their yearly battle.
We
kept hearing all this fuss over guest bands and how far they're
getting. The novelty of two guests competing against only one of them
must be appealing to the majority. I mean, the same thing every year
must get pretty old, fast," Kathryn mused aloud.

Craig
nodded, "so maybe one of them would do anything to avoid that.
But who? Jailbreaker for cancelling on them?"

"I
doubt it, they're the Nutropans, same as the suicide victim,
correct?" Kathryn questioned in Miresha's direction. She got no
answer, it made her hesitate a moment. "Though this is their
home planet and stadium, they'd know their own security systems."

"Rhythm
don't like us either. Lena said the guy who does the instruments was
rude to her, and the lead singer keeps staring daggers at Jessie, I
think," Craig muttered uneasily.

Kathryn
groaned, "we're getting nowhere. They're both possible
culprits, either them or their fans, staff. We're wasting time... we
need to keep our people together. Miresha?" She got a little
acknowledgment from the official. "Please can you bring Jessie
back here, or to Lena and Kiara's room?"

"Of
course," Miresha said, sounding a little worried. The pair
remaining heard the door open and close within a few seconds of each other.

Not
far away, a group of Voyager crewmembers were being lead by Tom and
B'Elanna, most of them using the flashing strobe lights to find their
way down the dark corridors. They stumbled unknowingly into the open
area behind the stage. Tom had been holding the wall to help guide
him, so when his hand brushed against the curtain he nearly toppled
into them. B'Elanna heard him yelp and grabbed his arm when he was
almost halfway down.

His
distress got the attention of the people lurking around in the room.
One of them approached without a light of their own. None of them
noticed, they were too focused on Tom's scramble to get back on his feet.

"Is
that everyone?" James' voice asked, startling the majority of
them. Tom more so, he ended up on the floor anyway despite his efforts.

B'Elanna
chuckled, being the only one not really surprised. "Chakotay's
trying to convince Neelix to come, with or without his horde of
souvenirs. Samantha was with them. Apart from that..."

"Good
lord, you really have to stop doing that," Tom wheezed as soon
as he was back on his feet, pointing accusingly at no one since he
couldn't see.

Someone
made a little shuddering sound, footsteps a short distance behind
James faded further away. "Yeah," he said while looking
around to pinpoint them.

"What,
no argument? Are you all murdered out?" Tom pretended to sound
confused, at the same time a door opened. B'Elanna nudged Tom in the
ribs, making him whimper. That covered the sound of the door shutting.

"Yeah,"
James murmured as he turned to walk off in the earlier sound's direction.

Tom
chuckled but nervously, "is he messing with me? I was joking,
that was clearly suicide."

B'Elanna
frowned in the direction James previously was. "He's clearly
gone. Come on, Bryan's room's down here." The group wandered off
in the same direction they were originally going.

Meanwhile
James walked down a corridor that seemed to lead to a dead end. A
little touch around in front of him he quickly realised it was a
metal door, different to the wooden ones throughout the building. A
warm breeze hit him as soon as it was open, as well as the sound of
the sea crashing into the nearby beach. There wasn't much in front of
him, barely a raised platform leading left. He followed it until a
corner took him along another wall, and into the parking lot for the
coaches they came in from. A few metres in front of him was Jessie
leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths and shaking.

"Jess?"
he said on approach.

She
looked at him while taking in one last deep breath, then out. "I
know, I know. But I couldn't breathe in there. Dark, stuffy, annoying."

James
looked around the entire lot before leaning against the wall
directly beside her. "I heard they'll be putting the power back
on very soon. We should go back then."

"I
guess," Jessie sighed, grimacing. "I dunno. Everyone's
inside. Maybe we can get in communications and transport range
before..." she cut herself off as a thought came to her, instead
she groaned.

"What?"
James asked, concerned.

"Everyone
watches this, don't they? Someone in that town will spot us,"
Jessie replied as she stared straight ahead of her. "Tell me I'm
being paranoid."

James
heard the slightest of taps, he looked across at where he thought it
came from. One of the buses to his right had its door ajar. He shook
his head, "I wish I could."

"At
least we won't make it to the final. Once we're back on the ship
it's over," Jessie said. Despite her words she didn't sound
relieved, only more worried. "Kiara, Naomi, Bryan. They don't
deserve any of this crap, I hope they don't have to."

A
few more taps elsewhere had James tense, he thought he could hear
someone whispering. "We should get back inside."

Jessie
glanced between him and in the direction he was staring. She
couldn't see anything. Still she nodded, "sure."

They
began to make their way back the way they came. The bus James had
been watching earlier rolled forward, right into and blocking their
path. His attention darted between the ajar door and where he heard
the tapping. Jessie started to hear them as well and looked over her
shoulder. The previously empty parking lot was starting to get
crowded with people filtering in from behind the other vehicles.

"James,"
she said as a warning.

The
ajar door opened, a couple of men jumped down from it. All of the
other few dozen of people began to surround them, most of them with
angry, disgusted scowls pointed at the pair.

James
inched a few little steps to the left so he was between the majority
of the crowd and Jessie. She frowned into the back of his head,
shaking her own.

"What
are you viruses still doing here?" one of the men from the bus
snarled. Several of the crowd shouted similar things and agreements.
Someone else in the crowd spat in their direction, it didn't hit them.

"Look,
we were about to leave. There doesn't need to be any trouble
here," James said while keeping an eye on everyone at the front.
He felt Jessie's hand grasp around his arm as if to try and pull him back.

"Oh
there's no trouble here. Two of you, all of us," a woman said
with a slight sneer.

"You
spat on not just her grave, but insulted us all!" another
screamed. That riled up the crowd even more, more of them started to
shout. Bottles were thrown. Only one got close, it smashed into the
wall right next to them.

Jessie
shook her head, "don't. Please, it wasn't us."

A
good majority of the crowd shouted back at her, some pointing.
"You dare accuse us?" was the only one either of them made out.

"Listen.
We're going to leave. There's no need for this," James said
with a raised voice. It didn't matter, not many could hear him over
their own voices. "Move aside!"

"James,
there's far too many of them," Jessie said close to his ear.

James
very lightly nodded. "I know. When you get an opening, run..."

The
grip on his arm tightened. "Don't you dare do anything
stupid," she whispered urgently.

"I'm
not going to, I'll be right behind you," James whispered back.
He noticed a lot of the crowd were closing in on them further, but
his attention was further ahead behind them. Looking closer to the
right, in the rough direction the bus which had been moved had stood,
he eyed the people there.

"You're
not..." Jessie said quickly under her breath, put off by a
couple of the crowd lunging forward.

James
only pushed at the ones directly ahead of them, including one of the
lungers. They toppled over into the people behind, they struggled to
keep upright too. James hurried forward into the brand new opening,
making short similar work with the ones at the back. Jessie kept
close behind him until they were almost clear.

Five
men threw themselves at him from multiple sides. Jessie
instinctively went to help. "Go!" he shouted as two were
floored with little more than a throw of his arm.

Jessie
hesitated, the remaining crowd still standing coming toward her,
pushed her into at least stepping backwards. With only two men left
with a hold of James, the original five on the ground, she knew he'd
be free to run soon, so she took off into the parking lot, straight
through a wide gap between two buses. James got one away from him,
then ran as well after her. The last guy deposited on the ground
seconds later. The remainder of the crowd and some of the ones
getting up gave chase.

The
lights of the arena flickered back on, the wall turned into a screen
showing the two announcers apologising and attempting to explain the situation.

Straight
ahead of Jessie lay the town, which for the time being looked quiet.
The people she could see were rushing in all manner of directions,
most of which towards a big building that looked like an old tavern.
She looked behind her to check, at the same time James yelled to keep
running. So she did, down a street no one was going for.

James
got to the same spot, him and the chasing crowd had garnered
interest from the people there. Some were filing out of the tavern to
find out what was happening. James sighed, eyeing the street Jessie
had gone down. The people almost on him, and new people shouting to
join them, he turned to sprint down a completely different street,
still shouting for Jessie to run as if she were going the same way.

As
planned, the majority chased him and only him down that street.
Stragglers were pointed down Jessie's chosen street, they followed her.

"Despite
the horrific display from Virus, Jailbreaker have come through with
an absolutely beautiful performance," Jepp announced to the
mostly empty break room backstage. Kathryn scowled at the screen. He
stopped talking and looked nervous as if she were there.

Eylene
struggled to smile, she pretended to wipe away a tear, "their
best yet I think Jepp."

Chakotay
approached Kathryn as she sipped on what barely remained of her
flask, a grim look on his face. "Kathryn."

She
looked up over her shoulder, "is that it, are we all ready to evacuate?"

"No,"
Chakotay said, his face had gotten very pale. Kathryn's curious and
worried stare pointed at him didn't help. "James and Jessie are missing."

Kathryn
found herself staring at the screen again, clenching her jaw and hands.

"The
polls for the second round are open, but make it quick, we're
running on extra time already," Eylene said.

Jepp
nodded, "five minutes folks, and this year's finalists will be revealed."

"Kathryn,"
Chakotay said warily.

Kathryn
shook her head, "you go, I'll stay. Don't crash the bus."

Chakotay
tried to laugh but his heart wasn't in it. "I wouldn't
recommend just one of us staying behind to look for them. Maybe..."

"We
haven't got time," Kathryn said in a hoarse voice. She eyed him
with her stubborn eyes while standing. "Get our people into
transporter range, get them out of here. Our daughter and
granddaughter should be your first priority. Get to it."

Chakotay
felt his throat throb. He knew she was right. "I'll get right
on it, then I'll send a Security team down in a shuttle."
Kathryn widened her eyes briefly as she gestured her head to one
side, he took that as another order to leave. He did with some regret
and worry.

When
he was gone Kathryn's face softened, she once again eyed the screen,
head shaking.

The
sound of the audience's cheers and claps had long since died down,
people had filtered through the backstage area until only a few,
including Kathryn remained. She ended her fourth circuit of the place
where she started, only then noticing how quiet the place had gotten.
What looked to her like two security guards watched her from the main
entrance, she approached them with a rapidly growing death glare.

"You,
is the concert over?" she barked. The two glanced in surprise
at each other, then back at the woman half their height and weight.
One barely had time to nod, she pointed at the other harshly.
"You're with me. Bobblehead, check your security system. They
have cameras don't they?"

"Bobblehead?"
the one who nodded stammered before he was melted into a puddle by
her gaze. "Yes we do. What are you looking for, ma'am?"

Kathryn
scoffed in disgust, "fine, we'll all look at the camera
footage, shall we?" They were about to object, her stare
darkened even more as she leaned in close to one of them, leering up
at him. "If something happened during the blackout, I'm just
going to take it out on you, understood?"

"No,"
they both replied but fearfully.

"Captain,"
a familiar voice ahead got her attention and saved the two security
guards. They turned to confront a group coming down the stairs.

"This
facility is off limits to civilians," one said, still unnerved
by the woman behind him.

Kathryn
rolled her eyes. "Tuvok," she said accusingly, the two
guards glanced at her briefly. "Shove off you overcompensators,
they're with me because you pissants can't do your job," she
hissed, waving her hand in between their faces. They stood aside, one
whimpered. "What are you doing here?"

Tuvok
stepped down, the three officers he had with him were struggling to
keep a straight face. "Commander Chakotay informed me of the
situation. I suggested we make use of the Ligers cloaking system to
avoid further trouble."

"You
managed to fit one of their clunkers in the parking lot?"
Kathryn sounded very surprised.

Outside
one of the alien bands were discussing something between them and
their officials, occasionally glancing over at one of their men
arguing with Stevé and other Ligers standing around in the
middle of the empty lot.

The
man knocked on nothing, a metallic ringing followed. Stevé
looked nonplussed about it as if nothing happened. "You knocked
our bus, look at it!" the man shouted while pointing at the lone
remaining vehicle, the bus with its face against the wall of the
corner of the building, sporting a second dent at its back tire. The
marks on it were scuffed with red paint.

"It
was like that when I got here," Stevé said sincerely,
intentionally though not looking at the new dent.

They
all stopped arguing at the sound of two more vehicles arriving, a
similar one to the bus but smaller driving in, and a shuttle sized
ship on its way to landing. Stevé looked up, gritting his
teeth since it was not far above them. "Oh this isn't..."
he said just as it collided with a shield, "good."

"Hmm,
not parked anywhere, really," the angry man grumbled. He
stomped over to his band and teammates, "get on the new bus,
come on." They followed the grumpy man to the other land
vehicle. "Don't get too close, some moron called Steve has
parked his invisible ship..."

Steve
turned his head tensely, making his neck crack, "it's
Steve-ay," he grumbled still with gritted teeth. The sound of
the shield getting hit again put him off. He looked up again to see
the ship maneuver around to park beside him, this time landing safely.

Neither
she or Tuvok noticed more people walk down the steps into the break
room, as well as the guards being dismissed outside. The security
team cleared their throats to get one of their attention.

"Captain
Janeway?" one of the newcomers said.

Kathryn
and Tuvok turned their heads, finally noticing them. Her brow
furrowed, she marched over to them. "That's me. Who are you?"

"Forgive
me, I am Diedera, I'm what you'd call a prime minister for this
continent," the same man said.

The
worried look on his face did nothing to deflate Kathryn's sour mood.
"I don't have time to be playing politics right now. I have missing..."

"Yes
I'm aware," Diedera abruptly said.

"What
does that mean, have you found them?" Kathryn asked, eyes sharpening.

Diedera
sighed as he glanced back at the two escorting him. They nodded and
returned to the stairs to leave them alone. "Our security forces
were called to the town nearby on reports of a disturbance. We've
found one of your Virus band members. He's been taken to our infirmary."

Kathryn's
face hardened. "He? Infirmary?" she sounded calm despite
that. It didn't last, her voice raised to a harsh scolding, "I
have two missing, and why the hell did he need to be taken to an infirmary?"

"Captain,"
Tuvok said, hoping to calm her down. "Might we ask what
happened?" he directed at Diedera.

He
seemed very hesitant. "I'm sorry. We are investigating, I'm
taking this matter very seriously."

"Tuvok,
tell our friends to help look for Jessie. Turn the town upside down
if you have to," Kathryn ordered without breaking eye contact
with Diedera. He looked alarmed, so did Tuvok. "You can hand my
crewmember over to me. If he actually needs medical treatment, I'd
prefer it if we took care of him."

Kathryn
scoffed, staring at him as if he were a teabag in her cup. "No thank
you.
We've
already been let down your useless security personel..."

"Might
I interject," Tuvok said, instantly feeling the chill. "It
would take further time to bring more of our people down, and
dangerous too. Ligers are Human, so by extension they will not be
safe from any retaliation either. I suggest we accept their help."

"Can't
you lower your arena shield that blocks our scanners?" Kathryn
snapped, "she must be within a mile radius if we haven't found
her. That would shorten our search time significantly."

"I'm
afraid not. It runs independently, even the power cut didn't affect
it," Diedera answered, bracing himself. "It would take our
technicians several hours to shut it down. Please, I only wish to
help. Otherwise I can only apologise on behalf of what my people did,
and that is not enough in these circumstances."

Kathryn
glanced over her shoulder back at Tuvok somewhat calmly. He knew
better than to lower his guard. She eyed the prime minister again
somewhat curious, but still furious. "What happened exactly?"

Diedera
thought about how to answer. He shook his head eventually. "Come
with me. I'll take you to him."

The
awayteam cautiously followed the alien entourage back to their
shuttle. Kathryn gestured a nod at the Liger personnel still standing
next to visibly nothing. Stevé nodded and turned around,
bumping into nothing with a nasty thud. His teammates sniggered to
themselves. "Who moved the ship?" he squeaked.

Once
the team were inside the shuttle, the outline of the F9 appeared
first before the rest of it decloaked, with Stevé's face still
implanted in its hull right beside one of its open airlocks.

It
took only a few minutes for the shuttle to reach its destination; a
tall shielded building on the cusp of a hill overlooking the nearby
town. A portion of the shield vanished to allow it to fly inside.

Diedera
lead his visitors down a few halls, into a circular room walled with
monitors each showing different parts of the town. Tuvok ordered his
team to guard outside, so he and Kathryn were alone with the minister.

Kathryn's
eyes flashed, "operating? What the hell happened?" Tuvok
again tried to calm her down, she waved him off, "no, James
shouldn't be getting so hurt that he needs an operation. Tell us!"

"Of
course," Diedera sighed guiltily. He turned to face one of the
monitors to use the keyboard like console underneath it. The screen
changed from a live shot of a street, to a woman facing the camera
with a microphone, the area with the tavern behind her.

"Oh
what the hell, don't you people do anything normally?" Kathryn hissed.

Diedera
said nothing, he merely unmuted the screen so they could hear the
woman talk.

"...live
at the scene, in the aftermath of this unprecedented escalation of
events. We arrived while a swarm of police officers struggled to
contain the unruly crowd. We at Channel Two are asking anyone who
caught the incident on video to send them in to us and the police.
For now, this is all we have."

The
clip changed to show roughly a hundred people in the not so
distance. Diedera had to lower the volume a little since the shouting
was so loud. People scattered at the sight of law enforcement
converging on them. Quite a few argued, even picked a fight with the
officers. Many were dragged off screen while the persons behind the
camera tried to follow them.

"Sir,
sir. Tell us what happened,
what's going on..." the same reporter's voice was heard.

The
security officer's hand reached for the camera to push it away, "not
now, keep back!"

They
watched as more people were arrested or ran away into the streets.
An alarm sounded over head. Within seconds a vehicle landed in the
square. People charged out of it, carrying equipment. The police
tried to clear the way through what was left of the crowd for them. A
couple stragglers shouted at the new arrivals, calling them traitors.

The
camera crew seemed to edge forward, catching a few other reporters
and cameras running forward to capture the action. Thanks to them,
they couldn't see anymore. All they could make out were the police
shouting at everyone to make room.

"As
you can see,"
the
reporter's voice said before the image cut back to her talking
directly at the camera. "There were many involved in this brawl,
some of which have escaped the law. If you recognise them or..."
She
touched her ear, frowning. "Oh
we're getting some of your clips. I'm being told to warn all viewers
that what will be shown may be distressing to younger viewers."

Kathryn
steeled herself for what was to come, her shoulders were so tense
they ached.

The
first clip seemed to be filming a street from a window two floors
above. About twenty people were charging down the street, shouting
different things nobody could make them out.

"What's
going on?" a woman's voice asked.

The
camera followed them by going into the next room. "Oh,
is that...?" a
man's shocked voice stuttered. The shot quickly tried to zoom in to
the far right. At first it was blurry. When it cleared up Tuvok and
Kathryn recognised James scaling the parallel building's roof,
hunched down to not be seen.

"What
is he doing?" Kathryn wondered.

"That's
it, it's
her!" one
of the crowd shouted, followed by similar shouting. James walked out
of the view of the camera in a hurry. They couldn't see anything, but
from the noise they could hear, the shouting was starting to mix with
bangs and clatters.

The
image cut off, interrupted by a different video. This one looked to
be amongst the crowd themselves. For a short while all they could see
were the backs of other people until the shouting volume raised, then
the crowd parted slightly to allow the camera to see what appeared to
be an empty street. Something there was setting them off further,
something that Kathryn couldn't see.

Tuvok
stepped forward, "may I?" he asked the minister. He gave
him a nod. Tuvok assessed the console and pressed one of the buttons,
the screen slowed. A few more taps and the image zoomed in on the
empty street, it looked blurry so Kathryn nearly missed it; barely
three pixels moved slightly, then disappeared. "Crewman
Rex," Tuvok said definitely.

"She's
hiding," Kathryn said while the minister looked on in shock.
She shook her head, "no wonder..."

Tuvok
returned the video back to normal. Barely a second later something
fell from above to land in front of the crowd. It took them all a
moment to recover from that to realise it wasn't a thing. The someone
straightened up from their crouched landing, not making any effort to escape.

Kathryn
groaned into her hand, "of course." Tuvok raised an
eyebrow, not that he was surprised either.

Whoever
was carrying the camera lunged forward, along with many others. It
shook, something slammed into them. The camera and possibly the owner
slammed onto the floor sideways. The screen badly cracked, fizzled
and went off.

Just
when both thought it was all over, another video started to play in
the middle of a voice shakily speaking over darkness, "believe
it, I can't believe it." The camera seemed to move making a
scraping noise, then was pointed out of another window. This one
seemed to be on a lower floor, pointing to the same street. The crowd
had swarmed around one spot, shouting, screaming, grunting. However
there were other shouts approaching them, that spooked a lot of them
into running off.

The
police started to arrive on the video, attempting to drag people
away. It still took a good minute to clear the crowd enough to see
what they had swarmed around. James lying near a wall, unmoving, with
one of his legs looking twisted to an unnatural angle, bleeding. More
stammers from the cameraperson occurred as they tried to film the
people still around, occasionally throwing a punch or a kick at him.
The image cut out finally, leaving Kathryn sick in the stomach.

"We
are urging anyone with information to come forward,"
the reporter said sullenly.
"Despite the incident at the concert, we condone violence of
this kind. We as a people have to be better than this and..."

Kathryn
reached across to try and turn it off. Eventually she got the right
button. "Tuvok," she said in a hoarse voice.

"Yes
Captain," Tuvok said in her direction, then turned to the
minister. "May I suggest we start our search in this location."

"Yes
of course. I didn't see her," Diedera stuttered as he lead the
Commander back to the door. Kathryn waited as patiently as she could
for him to order his people, while Tuvok argued his case about going
with them. It seemed to work as he left with the rest of his team,
leaving only Diedera. He returned to Kathryn, unsure what else to say
to her.

"The
operation?" Kathryn asked icily.

Diedera
nervously nodded, "I assume so, so it'll..."

"No,"
Kathryn barked, startling him, "where is this happening?"

"I
can't take you there. It serves no purpose even if he was
conscious," Diedera said.

Kathryn
growled and turned her head away. "I told you. We'll treat him.
Who knows how many people in there are biased against him."

"No,
we have moral codes in our medical service," Diedera objected
defensively. Kathryn once more eyed him dangerously. "I mean,
nothing he did deserved that. Noth..."

"We
never proved that James or his group did anything wrong at all,"
Kathryn snapped. "Now, I won't ask you again."

"On
one condition," Diedera said, sighing in defeat, "you let
us finish his treatment. It wouldn't be good for him to interrupt it
just for a transfer."

Kathryn
rolled her eyes only to make a point, inside she knew she couldn't
argue against that. "Fine."